No Matter What
by IotaTau
Summary: Almost all the racers in Sugar Rush have regained their memories. But for one racer, it took a little longer for the damage to heal.


For the first time in almost a week, Taffyta Muttonfudge felt her racing code sync perfectly with her cart, the _Pink Lightning_. Every little squeak, every impact, every sound that her cart made came clear and unhindered despite the chaotic race around her.

She loved it.

She was also relieved. For days her code seemed to have been in a state of flux, preventing her from making it to the top nine in the random roster races. Before, if she ever hit a losing streak it would last only two to three days and then she would be right back in the game. But something was different about this one. It was like her brain was trying to correct some old error.

It began three weeks after Vanellope von Schweetz reset the game and became president. At first, everything was going great. The races were more exhilarating, winning and helping the gamers have fun was more fulfilling, and everyone was able to interact with other game characters in the arcade.

 _Wait_ , Taffyta told herself, _save it for after the race_.

Taffyta was in third place, behind Vanellope, who was trying to capture the lead from Jubileena Bing-Bing. Despite an almost guaranteed place in the random roster for the day's game, she wanted to win first place to not only prove once again to her fellow racers that she was one of the best but also to reassure herself.

She watched in admiration as Vanellope glitched to first place. Taffyta grinned in expectation and grabbed a Sugar Rush power up that brought her alongside Jubileena. Just a few more seconds and she would be able to snag second place at the coming turn. She was so focused on coming up with a strategy for getting first place that she missed another set of power-ups. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that Jubileena had obtained the Sweet Seekers power-up and was pointing it at Vanellope.

Suddenly it was no longer Jubileena racing next to her. She had been replaced by an avatar with grey skin and yellow eyes, wearing a white racing uniform with red stripes. He grinned wickedly at Vanellope and fingered the trigger.

"Turbo," Taffyta whispered.

She had no weapons of her own, no way to aid her best friend. _Hold up. Best friend?_ she thought. Turbo's arm tensed and she knew he was going to fire. Panic flooded through her, freezing her arms and feet. _What do I have?_ she thought desperately, fingering the steering wheel of her cart. Her cart!

She yanked the steering wheel sharply, sending her cart racing toward the intruder. Then Turbo turned back into Jubileena, who stared at her in shock. Taffyta paled. It was too late to turn away.

Taffyta shielded her face with her arms in a vain effort to protect herself. She heard the candied bodies of the carts crack and bend as they collided. She felt her cart roll before crashing into something hard. Then silence.

 _Why is the game taking so long to respawn us?_ Taffyta thought. They usually respawn in a matter of seconds, but this time was taking longer than she was used to. _Must've been a bad crash_.

Finally, her awareness flickered and she was back on the track in a now-whole candy cart, with Jubileena next to her. The cherry-themed racer immediately gunned her engine and shot away, but Taffyta didn't follow. She knew it was hopeless to get a spot on the roster for the day. Four racers had already finished and she was in last place. Instead, she gunned her engine and drove to a spot she recently discovered, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. She needed to think.

()-]/\|/\\[-()

No other place in Sugar Rush was as quiet as this one. Long ago, Taffyta created a journal for the races. She had gathered information on her fellow racers, cataloging their strengths and weaknesses, and had recorded some tricks and strategies she'd picked up over the years. She sometimes spent hours before the arcade opened pouring over her notes to further develop her driving skills. It had proven very effective in giving her an edge over the competition.

But finding a quiet place where she could do all that had been a challenge. The town where she and the other racers lived was often crowded and any other isolated spot in the game usually had a racer or two already there. Taffyta was very relieved to have this one all to herself. She just couldn't shake the feeling that she had been here before the reset.

Turning to the entries about King Candy, Taffyta felt white-hot anger course through her as she remembered the damage Turbo did to the game and to Vanellope especially. Her fingers shook as images of him tormenting the rightful ruler in his obsessive quest for power played in her mind. Unable to stand looking at the vile pages, she ripped them out and tore them to shreds. She had been angry before, but this was more intense than anything she ever experienced.

"What is wrong with me?" Taffyta asked out loud, grabbing her head with her hands. Silence was her only answer.

She let the book fall to the ground, its presence suddenly foreign to her. How can it feel strange to hold a book she had kept for so many years? Then she remembered the book didn't exist until after Turbo took control of the game. An image flashed before her eyes of the day she wrote her first entry. She had been so eager to -

"Stop it," Taffyta pleaded with the memories. "Stop holding me back, I just want to race!"

The world around her suddenly disappeared. Memories both old and new swam before her, jumbling together in a large frenzied image of her life. At first it seemed chaotic, but she realized they were trying to sort themselves out.

 _But our memories were restored weeks ago_ , Taffyta thought. _Why are mine still a mess?_

As if in response, the swirling suddenly stopped and she found herself floating in front of her first memory. She felt drawn to it, feeling the life she had before calling out to her, begging her to live through it again.

But she hesitated. Was she as rotten to the other racers then as she was under King Candy's rule? The shame and guilt over what she had done made her retract her hand. But the memory seemed to want none of that and quickly enveloped her.

()-]/\|/\\[-()

Taffyta watched in wonder as her younger self materialized in her distinctive cart. The new racer gazed excitedly at the other avatars in anticipation of their first race. The young racer's joy and excitement was pure, innocent even.

As the timer counted down, several thoughts raced through her mind. The first was the eagerness her younger self had to help the kids who played their game have a great time. The second was that even though they were all fellow racers and had good sportsmanship, they all wanted to race hard. Third, she felt a little shy of being placed right next to Princess Vanellope von Schweetz. Racing with the others was one thing. Racing with the princess was another. The light turned green and all worries instantly faded as her foot slammed the pedal down.

Then the memory fast-forwarded to the end of their first day as part of the arcade. One of the characters from another game gave the all clear and the racers immediately turned their carts around to head back to the starting line. She saw herself mingling with the other racers with a carefree attitude that she envied. Everyone went silent as Vanellope drove up in her white race cart. The older Taffyta winced at the now unfamiliar attire her fellow racer wore, but her younger self didn't seem to think it was odd.

After shaking hands with the other racers, Vanellope walked up to young Taffyta. Remembering their differences of function in the game, she gave the princess a curtsy instead of offering her hand. She heard gasps from those around her and looked up to see some of them doing the same, as if they had just remembered who Vanellope was well.

Vanellope refused to have any of that and assured them that, even though her code said she was a princess, she saw herself as a racer just like the rest of them. Happiness flooded through Taffyta's younger self as she grabbed the princess's hand and dragged her to the carts, calling for another race. Everyone cheered as the game had its first race without players controlling the avatars.

The next few memories flew by Taffyta. She saw herself and Vanellope becoming fast friends. They did almost everything together. Taffyta even came along as support when Vanellope had to perform some of her duties as a princess. Two weeks after the game was plugged in, they made a solemn promise to each other.

"I have your back, Van," she heard herself say. "No matter what."

"And I have yours, Taffyta," Vanellope replied. Then they sealed the agreement with a hug.

Taffyta felt tears threaten again as another memory, long forgotten, resurfaced. Sadness, fear, desperation, and sheer terror flooded her mind. She closed her eyes under the strain of the emotional onslaught. When she opened them again she saw her younger self shouting a warning at Vanellope as a mysterious white clad racer with pale skin and yellow teeth raced passed her. She didn't know his name, but her older self recognized him in an instant. Turbo.

Just like she did while racing earlier that day, the younger Taffyta desperately looked for any stray power ups she could use to help her friend, who was desperately trying to fend off the hostile racer. He leaned over and grabbed hold of Vanellope's arm and yanked a gold key off her wrist. Taffyta, seeing nothing else that would help her, swerved to the side and rammed him.

Her aim was true. Almost any other racer would have been knocked off the track, but not Turbo. The malevolent racer skillfully righted his cart, but Vanellope already used the distraction to put some distance between them. Taffyta was not so fortunate. As she careened off the track, she saw Vanellope realize what Turbo had stolen and turn to race toward the castle to keep him from getting inside.

When Taffyta respawned, she pushed her cart past its limits in her haste to help her friend, ignoring the dangerously high temperature reading and smoke coming from the engine. The castle was in chaos, guards lay unconscious in front of the gates and Sour Bill was strung up by his feet in a candy tree. She left her smoking cart and raced inside.

Vanellope had told her of the code room that was accessible from behind the throne. Now the large chair was knocked aside and the curtains torn, revealing a metallic corridor that led to the chamber. What she found there almost brought her to her knees. Turbo had tied up Vanellope and was inside the chamber, twisting the code.

"Van!" the younger Taffyta shouted as she raced to her friend's side. "Are you hurt?"

"Just bruised Taffyta," Vanellope replied. Her eye widened in panic as she pushed Taffyta's hands away. "There's no time. Get into the code room before he destroys the game."

"Righ - Ahh!" Taffyta screamed in pain as something in her code seemed to be ripped away. Red lined her vision, making it hard to see, but she saw that Vanellope was writhing in pain as well.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Turbo said as he floated back into the hallway. "Impressive, little girl. But as you can tell by your twitching, your efforts have been in vain. I won!" he let out a maniacal laugh.

"No," Taffyta groaned. Memories of her short life started to flicker and fade. She tried to hold on to them, but it was as if they were being deleted. She looked at her best friend - what was her name again? The older Taffyta wanted to yell at the strawberry-themed racer, to shout out the name of her best friend, to tell her to not listen to Turbo as he twisted her memories. But her efforts were in vain. The younger racer's twitching slowed until she was still. Taffyta cringed as she watched the new owner of Sugar Rush go back to the code room.

Hours seemed to pass. The tension of waiting started to get to her. Finally, the young racer stirred, and Taffyta remembered her thoughts. They were the same as before, but something about them was off. They were harder, more void of emotion. She was like a robot programmed to show emotion, but not actually feel it.

 _Where am I? What happened?_ The younger Taffyta stirred and pushed herself to her hands and knees. She winced as pain shot through her head. _Oh my head! Wait!_ She looked at Vanellope, who was also stirring. The princess's attire had changed to what she liked to wear now. _That's right! The game glitched and created that! That's not safe for us racers!_ Turbo walked toward her, except he was now in his King Candy form.

"Get him!" Taffyta yelled at the racer. "Protect Vanellope!"

"Guards!" King Candy shouted.

The younger Taffyta turned to find the two donut officers and the Oreo guards running toward them. They appeared frazzled though, like they'd had too much sugar the day before and were dealing with the side effects.

"Our apologies for taking so long, highness," the tall one, Wynnchel, one said.

"There was a glitch in the game so your tardiness is forgiven," King Candy said haughtily. "Unfortunately it resulted in this!" he pointed to Vanellope, who had pushed herself to her feet.

"Me?" Vanellope said, her body pixelating in agitation. The guards started marching toward her. "I'm not a glitch!" she pleaded, backing away and pointed to the younger Taffyta. "I'm a racer like her."

King Candy laughed like it was the most absurd thing he ever heard. The younger Taffyta looked like someone spilled hot sauce all over her breakfast. She pushed her way through the guards until she was standing directly in front of the person who was supposed to be her best friend.

"You dare insult me?!" she almost shouted. "You're not a racer! You aren't even a part of this game!" She was shaking in anger. "Things like you shouldn't exist. And if they do, they should be locked up to protect the game!"

"Locked up?" Vanellope said in a small voice.

"Now, now," King Candy said. "There is no reason to be violent with this one. After all, she's here now so there is not much we can do about it." He looked at Vanellope with what some would consider mercy. But Taffyta could see the evil glint in his eyes. Her younger self didn't seem to care, or she just didn't notice. "We will only lock her up if she disobeys the rules."

"What rules?" Vanellope asked hopefully.

"Under no circumstances are you are to interact with any of the inhabitants. And you will not be allowed to operate any of the machinery we have. Including carts!" he shouted when Vanellope opened her mouth to speak. The girl quickly closed it again, tears beginning to fill her eyes.

The younger Taffyta scoffed. "That's the rules Glitch. Take'em or leave'em."

The guards pulled out their Tasers and pointed them at Vanellope. That was all it took to cause the cornered racer to panic. She tried to bolt but the other donut cop, Duncan, grabbed her arm. After knocking his hand away with a swift kick, Vanellope almost ran into one of the spears, when she glitched again. This time, it teleported her to the entrance of the throne room. Casting one last, frightened glance at King Candy and the guards marching toward her, Vanellope ran out.

King Candy looked disappointed. "We'll have to catch that glitch another day."

"You don't think they'll catch her?" the younger Taffyta asked.

"No. I want you to gather the other racers and have them come to the starting line. It is time for me to address the game about this new development."

"Right away," she saluted and jogged to her cart outside, eager to help her king.

Taffyta was about to follow her younger self when something grabbed her. She flailed her arms in an attempt to get whatever had her in its clutches, but found nothing. Gravity seemed to have reversed itself, pulling her away from the memory. Higher and higher she rose. Below her, time appeared to move at light speed. She saw the innumerable races she and her fellow drivers took part in. She saw Vanellope in her new cart mopping the competition and the Cy-Bugs swarm the game. Just before her vision turned white, she saw Wreck-it Ralph save the game and Vanellope reset it soon after.

()-]/\|/\\[-()

The memory faded and Taffyta found herself in her cart again. She tried to get out, but a dizzy spell forced her back into her seat. Her hands reached for the steering wheel, but they were shaking so much she couldn't get a firm grip. Sighing, she settled down to wait it out.

Minutes passed and her tremors slowly subsided. Confident that the effects of regaining all of her memories were gone, Taffyta stood up and stretched backward to relieve the tension in her back.

"There we go," she murmured as she felt the popping in her spine.

"Wow." Taffyta gave a small scream and whirled around to find Vanellope grinning at her.

"How-" Taffyta took a steadying breath. "How long have you been there?"

"Well…" Vanellope made a show of musing over the question, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "I was kinda worried about you after the race today. But then I thought, no, there's no way she's starting to show her age." She hopped off her cart and walked up to Taffyta's. "Then I see you sleeping the whole day away and hear pops in your back," Vanellope shivered. "I fear that it's true Pink Slip."

Taffyta froze at the nickname she was given so long ago. But panic at the prospect of Vanellope finding out she remembered their previous lives and the harsh reaction that would surely follow spurred her into action. She slammed her foot on the gas pedal and shot away, leaving a shouting Vanellope behind.

It was great feeling the wind in her hair again! Her eyes half closed as she enjoyed the power of the cart. But the roar of another engine interrupted her. One glance told her that Vanellope was in hot pursuit.

"Pull over!" Vanellope yelled, coming up next to her.

"Leave me alone!" Taffyta shot back. "I don't want to talk to anyone!"

"Too bad!"

Before Taffyta could react, Vanellope rammed her cart, causing her to temporarily lose control. After a few seconds of frantic steering, Taffyta brought her cart to a stop just inches away from a pond of pudding. What was Vanellope thinking!?

She climbed out and stood waiting as Vanellope pulled up in front of her. "You want me to talk?!" she yelled.

"If it's not too much trouble!" Vanellope replied hotly as she hopped out of her cart and walked up to Taffyta.

"Alright, fine!" Taffyta leaned forward. "I remember everything, okay!"

Vanellope's eyes widened but she remained silent. Taffyta went on. "And I'm sorry! I should've remembered. I should've been a better friend. Instead I got altered by some insane king wannabe and became one of his top pawns."

Vanellope started to say something but Taffyta cut her off. "I treated you lower than salt Vanellope! My best friend!" her voice lowered. "And I enjoyed it." She blinked away tears. "Sure, I felt bad once the game was fixed. But now…" she trailed off as memories of the times she bullied Vanellope ran through her head. "Now that my memory's back, I feel like a monster. All those years I lived like a monster!" The tears came again and this time she didn't stop them.

Taffyta walked back to her cart and sat on the hood, staring at the pudding pond. She thought back to the first day of King Candy's reign. Now that she knew who he really was, she was shocked at how well he could lie to the citizens of Sugar Rush. All throughout his speech, King Candy held them spellbound. He talked about how the game was almost lost because of a flaw in the code and how he fixed the issue in the nick of time. He also announced that not all of the damage could be fixed.

The crowd had gasped. They were quickly assured that it wasn't a serious problem, just a glitch in the form of a racer avatar that had been found. Taffyta remembered looking to the tree line and seeing Vanellope staring at the assembled racers with longing in her eyes. Taffyta had sent a silent glare her way and turned her attention back to King Candy.

She was brought out of the flashback when something rammed her in the back and sent her flailing into the pond. She thrashed in the viscous substance, desperately trying to find which way was up. When she did finally find air again, she discovered the pond was only as deep as her waist. She started wiping her face off as best she could but was stopped by laughter. She looked up and saw Vanellope rolling on the ground next to Taffyta's cart, completely overcome with hysterics.

"Oh," she said between laughs. "Oh man! Your face!" She started rolling again. "It was-" more laughter. "Priceless!"

As the president rolled on the ground, Taffyta stared at her in shock. Vanellope forgave her? Just like that? Finally, the former princess picked herself up from the ground. Taffyta stared at her in confusion.

"You zoned out again Pink Slip," Vanellope explained, the big grin never leaving her face. "It was the only thing I could think of to snap you out of it." Her face sobered. "Look. I forgive you if that's what you want. But I never blamed you - alright I blamed you a little bit," she amended when Taffyta gave her a skeptical look. "But when my own memories came back I didn't anymore. Now all I want is to be friends again. I want my best friend back."

"But Ralph-" Taffyta protested.

"Is like a brother." Vanellope said. "What'd you say?" She held out a hand.

Taffyta stared at it for a moment, then back at Vanellope. She saw encouragement and yearning in those eyes like she did on the day they made their promise. Then she realized she wanted their friendship back as much as Vanellope did. She waded out and took her hand. "I got your back Van." Then, just like she did years ago, she gave Vanellope a hug, making sure that as much of the pudding got on her as possible.

Vanellope let go for a moment and smirked down at her outfit. "I should've expected that." Then she pulled Taffyta into a hug again. "And I have yours. No matter what."

Taffyta smiled, whispering the renewed promise just loud enough for only them to hear.

"No matter what."


End file.
